Zombies. The cornerstone of horror. While other horror genres, from vampires to warewolves go in and out of fashion, the zombie remains a constant fan favourite, whether it be in horror classics like Dawn of the Dead, comedy such as Shaun of the Dead or even top rated TV series’ such as the excellent The Walking Dead, hell there is even a zombie based survival game called 2.8 Hours Later.
Now a team of Nottingham filmmakers – headed up by Director Steve Best – have put created Zombie Hood, filmed largely in Nottingham and featuring a local cast, including some of the local music scenes best names – and boy have they done a hell of a job.
Zombie Hood wastes no time getting started, there is no build up, no explanation to how the “infection” get’s out there, from the opening scene we are treated to zombies, and what is more child zombies at that, which offers up a pretty shocking start.
The first half of the film builds things up, with an introduction to some of the key characters as well as some great cut scenes featuring some impressive and imaginative zombie deaths – including a pretty gruesome bath scene.
There is a great scene in a club where top Nottingham boys In Isolation are performing and we’re also introduced to a top cameo from Nottingham rapper, and Def Goldblum front man Duke-01 (aka Dean Tate) – as well as former Big Brother star – and Wolverine lookalike – Marcus Akin as a sleazy band manager.
This scene also introduces us to some of those who will go on to be key members of the core cast, including best friends Candi (Jade Blocksidge) and Kelly (Alexandra Lyon), and the films stand out star Rik, played by Richard Lee O’Donnell, who excels as the comedic relief.
Eventually the film moves out into the woods and we’re left with a core group of characters including the trio above, plus grandad Bill, played by Nottingham Arts theatre veteran Harry Keeling, police officer Dermott (Ed Nudd), gun toting bad boy Sam (Tom Murton) and youngster Melanie (Alice Joyce). A mismatched group forced together due to the situation, the strained relationships and clashing personalities prove as much of a danger as the zombies that close in on them.
Tensions mount, with a hint towards a back history between Dermott and cop hating Sam, as well as Kelly’s anger at Candi, who left her friend to fend for herself at the nightclub, while Bill tries desperately to keep everyone together.
As the group battle for survival the relationships become key, with some serious and tough to watch scenes punctuated by some great moments of comedy relief – mainly offered up by crisp obsessed Rik.
There is also a great scene involving blood soaked, cleaver wielding chef The Protector (Darren Maffucci) who stumbles upon a camp full of zombie kids.
One of the stand out things about Zombie Hood is the fact it plays with your expectations, deaths to characters come at times you would least expect and sometimes a character you think has been killed off will return, and while there is little background to the characters, you will find yourself caring about them and rooting for – or maybe even against – them.
Eventually after stumbling through the woods – and with their numbers dwindled down – the action returns to Nottingham and a brilliant scene based in the shadows of Nottingham castle and around the Robin Hood statue was certainly a highlight.
Overall Zombie Hood is a thoroughly enjoyable film, offering up shocks, gruesome deaths and the odd bit of humour, it does exactly what you would want from a horror film, with everybody, even kids, fair game you won’t know who is next to go, and, considering the low budget, filmed extremely professionally.
The cast, made up of largely newcomers, all perform really well, no doubt we’ll be hearing more from some of these folks in the future, while the film is worth watching for an excellent hillside scene at the end by itself.
I really enjoyed this movie and massive congratulations have to go out to everyone involved including director Steve Best, producer Susan Hayes and all the team involved, hopefully they will be able to get the distribution rights sorted, which the film certainly deserves, and you’ll all be able to grab a copy of Zombie Hood in the not too distant future.
Meanwhile I’ll be looking over my shoulders every time I walk past the Robin Hood statue in future.
Review by Darren Patterson
